Today, Thursday September 14th Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, joined LauraLynn, Ireland’s only Children’s Hospice, as the charity announce the expansion of their specialised services with a new Community Team which will be based in Ballinasloe. The news comes as LauraLynn also announce that they have successfully undergone an Assurance & Accreditation programme with CHKS, a leading provider of healthcare intelligence and quality improvement services.
Last year LauraLynn opened its first regional community-based team in Mallow, Cork and following on from its success the charity plans to operate a second regional community service from Ballinasloe, Galway. LauraLynn in the Community is currently operating in Leinster, Cork, Kerry and Limerick. From a base in Ballinasloe, specialised hospice and palliative care supports will be offered to children and their families in the Midlands, West & Northwest of the country. In total, LauraLynn hope to support at least 200 children and their families annually through regional and Dublin based LauraLynn in the Community Teams by 2024, equating to more than 2,800 home visits.
Speaking at LauraLynn as they announce the expansion of their Community Team to Ballinasloe, Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, commented.
‘’I am delighted to be at LauraLynn today to help announce the opening of LauraLynn’s Ballinasloe Community service. It’s wonderful to visit the Hospice in Dublin today and have the opportunity to speak with some of the team and the families that the charity support. It’s wonderful to hear the incredible impact having services available close to home makes and it is an important step in our goal to ensure universal access to end-of-life care’’.
LauraLynn in the Community is an extension and enhancement of the care and supports available to families at their purpose-built facility in Dublin. In 2022, following the opening of the Mallow based community team providing care and supports across Cork and Kerry LauraLynn saw a 139% increase in referrals across the service with a 100% increase in the Cork and Kerry region alone. The Mallow based team extended their reach to support families in Limerick in May of this year which has been very welcomes by families across the county.
